Are you or someone close to you in a slump you’re struggling to get out of? Getting out of one can be exhausting and challenging. Fortunately, it’s possible by taking things easy and one step at a time (and we’ll share all the steps and a few other tips in this blog post). In this article, we’ll review how to get out of a funk when you don’t feel like yourself. So, by the end of this article, you’ll feel motivated to get yourself back on track and get rid of this bad feeling for good.
Acknowledge What’s Going On
Most people tend to ignore what they feel and why. Unfortunately, our fast-paced modern world doesn’t encourage time to self-reflect and unwind. Acknowledging what’s going on in your head is the first step toward getting out of a funk. Ask yourself a few questions about how you’re feeling, like did something happen that hurt me recently? Am I demotivated? Does my job fulfill me? Am I pursuing my relationship mindfully? Is there negativity or toxicity around me?
It may be time to let go of that additional responsibility dragging you down or that toxic person that should’ve ended months ago. If you still can’t grasp the origin of your slump, ask someone you trust for their perspective. It’s easier to see things from a certain distance, and a good friend will tell you what they think. Your friend may even give you some advice to help you get out of the funk.
Embrace the Funk
Everyone goes through a funk every once in a while. It’s normal to feel down occasionally, whether it’s due to hormones, relationships, or work. The worst thing you can do when experiencing one is beat yourself up for it.
Sit with your feelings for a while. But don’t be trapped by your feelings. Don’t be afraid. Emotions are not good or bad. Every emotion is valid and serves a function: To inform you about the world around you. Negative emotion signals that something may be off, so sitting with it can help see the bigger picture.
Ask yourself what you’re feeling, but don’t judge the emotion. Instead, accept it and embrace it for a while. Once you’re comfortable with the sentiment, you can begin working on overcoming it.
Give Yourself Time
Spare one, two, or even three days to back off. It’s okay to let yourself feel sad or cranky for a weekend. If you don’t control your emotions, the emotions can grow bigger and be counterproductive. Feelings are like waves: The more you try to swim against them, the more you drown.
You’re allowed to be in a funk once in a while. Turn up the music or soak in the bathtub full of green tea bubbles or epsom salts. Don’t talk to anyone; spend the whole afternoon watching your favorite series or reading a good book.
Just don’t get caught up in it. There’s a difference between unwinding for a few days and letting yourself go, which only will make things worse.
How to Get Out of a Funk
After you give yourself a couple of days to sit with everything that’s going on, it’s time to work on getting back on your feet.
1. Connect with Your Surroundings
The first step is to connect with your surroundings. Mindfulness has become popular among mental health advocates for a good reason. Staying in touch with sensations, feelings, sounds, etc., is a primary part of our well-being.
It can be hard to focus on tangible things when you’re in a funk. You’d rather spend your days wrapped up in your thoughts and emotional distress, but that only worsens the problem. Try listening to what’s around you.
Ask questions like: Do you hear birds, kids laughing, or people debating the last TV show? What’s the day like: cloudy or sunny? How does your body feel? Are you tired or relaxed? Answering these questions will help you regain consciousness, which is vital for living in the moment and feeling like yourself again.
2. Become one with the present moment
Finding the time to get in a deep breath can help overcome a bad mood that makes you feel sad. Guided meditation can help you manage a major depressive disorder or any clinical depression, by getting you to focus on the present moment.
Plus, deep breathing is really good for your brain. So, if you find your mind is filled with intrusive thoughts or negative thoughts, meditating can help you focus on your breath instead, so you can manage bad moods, difficult emotions, and bad days better.
Remember, meditating isn’t about leaving you alone with your thoughts. It’s about getting you to focus on something else. So, if you find you can’t get out of your head, it can be helpful for you, especially if you’re trying to figure out how to get out of a funk.
You can download Declutter The Mind’s meditation app for free or check out our YouTube channel.
3. Get Moving
The chances are you’ve already heard how important physical activity is to get back on track and out of a funk. Although it may sound cliche, it’s true. Exercising increases feel-good hormones and helps you rest better at night. Plus, it can prevent unhealthy weight gain. And these are only three of its many benefits.
Moving around in a funk doesn’t mean you need to become the new Olympic athlete. Instead, it’s about getting sunlight and moving your body, whether stretching, walking on the beach, jogging in the park, or dancing to your favorite songs.
Most experts agree on one thing: It doesn’t matter what you do when you exercise, as long as you have fun and get some cardio.
The human body wasn’t designed to lay in bed all day long. It eventually pays off to exercise – you’ll feel healthier and regain most of your lost energy.
You can practice mindful walking to help you stay out of your head while going for an outdoor walk.
4. A Nutritious Diet
“You are what you eat” is one of the hardest pills to swallow (pun intended), But it’s true. The sooner you switch to a nutritious diet, the better you’ll feel. And the faster you’ll get out of a funk.
It’s only natural to soak yourself in chocolate and chips when feeling down. But sugar and fats have a counterproductive effect: They give you a dopamine high, a sense of accomplishment, only to make you tired and miserable again afterward. Instead, high-protein or high-fat (the healthy kind) meals keep you and your energy levels fully charged.
When it comes to eating healthy food, you can choose to practice mindful eating to actually enjoy the food you munch on. You’ll start feeling better about what you put in your body while also having a positive experience eating.
5. Quit Social Media
Sometimes, a social media detox is just what you need to get out of a funk. Mindfulness is about connecting with the real world and your body. Staying up-to-date with every small thing that happens around the globe is contrary to mindfulness.
Social media can be a great tool to connect with your loved ones and entertain yourself for a while. But it can also drag you into a spiral of brain fogginess and demotivation, which is something you want to avoid to get out of a funk.
Delete your social media apps for a few days, even a week. Message friends and family members who are important to you, but don’t try to keep up with the digital world.
Mindlessly scrolling is linked to decreased productivity and mood, which is unhealthy in most situations, but especially when trying to get out of a funk.
6. Seek Emotional Support
Humans are social beings. We seek connections and emotional bonds and can’t survive without them. Emotional support is particularly relevant when you’re in a slump. Message one of your favorite pals and ask them to hang with you.
There’s nothing like a night out and beers with your friends, or maybe you prefer a cozy evening at home with pizzas and a TV show. Although it can be hard at first, you’ll feel recharged and grateful for your friendship, which leads us to the next point.
7. Show Gratitude
An attitude of gratitude is a powerful tool, yet most times it’s ignored or overlooked. Its power lies in a simple premise: When you’re grateful for what you have, there’s no room for anxiety or panic attacks. You can’t feel anxious and sad when thinking about how lucky you are to have a good support system around.
You can practice gratitude in many ways. Creating a gratitude list first thing in the morning can be a great task to add to your morning routine. Open a journal or notebook and write down 3-5 things you’re grateful for. You can list anything: Your family, partner, job, pets, new favorite band, having food to eat daily, etc.
This habit also helps you see the positive things in the world, which helps prevent depression and decreased energy levels. So long story short, it’s a significant first step if you seek how to get out of a funk.
8. Clean Your Space
Cleaning is a laborious process most people don’t enjoy. It’s easier to make a mess than clean it up. But a tidied, clean space can help you get out of a funk, especially if it’s your room.
Have you ever woken up with determination to do something, only to see your desk is a mess, and then give up? It’s more common than one may think, and you want to avoid such a situation when feeling down.
Play your favorite playlist or listen to an audiobook while organizing your space to make it feel good again. By tidying up your space regularly it gets easier to clean. A clean space can cause a feeling of a clean mind, even if our minds love the chaotic mess.
9. Treat Yourself
When was the last time you bought a cute outfit or took yourself out for dinner? Yes, your partner or friends can do that once in a while. But there’s nothing like treating yourself out of love.
It doesn’t even need to involve money. It can be as easy as pouring a cup of tea and reading that book you put on hold months ago.
Pampering yourself gives you a sense of independence and self-esteem, both key to recharging batteries and getting back on your feet. There’s this misconception that you can’t do certain things alone, but nothing could be further from the truth. You’re the only person that will always stick to your side, so take care of yourself.
10. Seek Therapy
If nothing else works, and you feel like you may need professional help, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment with a mental health expert. Instead, therapists are trained to listen and help you overcome struggles and obstacles.
Slumps are common and normal, but sometimes they can evolve into more severe conditions like depression. If you haven’t felt like yourself in a long time or hobbies don’t seem appealing anymore, it may be worth looking into it. You can find a therapist online.
11. Understand it’s just a bad day
Some good news for you, it’s just a bad day, not a bad life. Depression or a bad thing that happened to us, can leave us in a funk. But stress of all kinds can be overcome with persistence, the right methods, and changing our circumstances that got us into this funk in the first place.
Our lives are ever-changing. Sometimes, that’s what got us into a funk in the first place. We were experiencing happiness and then chaos erupted. It sucks when that happens. But remember, that just as good days become bad days, that bad days also become good days. This funk is temporary. Things will be better before you know it, my friend. Keep the hope alive.
12. Find beauty in the little joys of life
It can be hard to find the little joys of life, especially when you’re clinically depressed. Newness wears with time. And the same things we used to love, we become complacent about. So naturally, your serotonin levels drop after a while. But the best part of life aren’t those big moments we imagine, but the every day moments we experience.
It’s spending time with family, friends, and a loving significant other. It’s cuddling your pet on the couch while watching your favorite show at night. It’s the fresh air as soon as spring hits that makes you feel excited about all the flowers abloom. Or looking through photo albums with endless memories of a life well lived.
A depressed mood can make all of those positive things create negative feelings. So speaking with a medical doctor if you’re unable to experience all those life joys is key.
13. Volunteer at a local charity
One of the most valuable insights when you feel stuck in a funk is to remember that helping others is a big mood changer. When you suffer a major depression, you become obsessed with yourself. You think “what is wrong with me?” or “why is no one helping me?” And this self-obsession is what makes human beings feel worse. You get lost in your thoughts instead of living in the real world.
When you shift your mindset to go from caring about “fixing” your bad mood, depression, or mental health in general to becoming obsessed with making others happier, you start to feel happier. It’s hard to be in a funk when you constantly do acts of kindness, help others, and praise people. Anyone who experiences clinical depression can boost serotonin levels by looking for ways to surprise and delight others, through volunteering or other good deeds.
14. Cross something off the bucket list
When your mental health leaves you wondering how to get out of a funk, it’s time to feel emotionally excited about something good in your life. If you’re always stuck in your own thoughts in your own home, you might be in need of some adventure.
Maybe that’s travelling abroad to a wonderful vacation by a beach or moving forward with writing a memoir about your life. You might pursue entrepreneurship if your funk is caused by a stressful job or mean co-worker. Doing activities you’ve always dreamed about can help reduce your stress. Take two weeks to plan fun bucket list activities for you to do to help you get out of a funk, when you’re feeling bad about something. Bring along another person to join in on the fun with you.
15. Get some sleep
When stuck in a funk, try to get some sleep. But only if it’s a one day kind of thing. Ultimately, if you’ve been stuck in a funk for months, sleeping it off won’t fix it. But if it’s just a less-than-pleasant kind of day, a normal part of your human experience, sleeping might help re-spark the good feeling you need right now.
Sometimes, going to bed feeling a little sad can allow you to have a good night sleep to rejuvenate yourself. Sleeping it off before you talk about it can allow you to process the difficult feelings a funk brings through your dreams. You can gain valuable insights through your dreams that will give you ideas on how to move forward from this funk.
Conclusion
Funks can be overwhelming and exhausting, but they go away. Spare a few days to recharge batteries and sit with your feelings. Don’t be too hard on yourself for feeling down – it happens to the best of us. Once you have taken things slow for a few days, begin working on getting yourself out of the funk.
